Bridge renamed in memory of Pritchardville woman

Dan Hunt

Friday

Jun 15, 2018 at 1:50 PMJun 15, 2018 at 1:50 PM

Five years removed from an unspeakable tragedy that robbed them of a loved one, the family of Melanie Lowther watched as the South Carolina Department of Transportation dedicated one of the area’s most traveled bridges in her name.

What used to be known as the New River Bridge on S.C. 46 is now the Melanie Lowther Memorial Bridge after a Thursday dedication featuring state and local politicians, members of the community, and Lowther’s friends and family.

“When somebody was hungry, she fed them. If she needed clothes, she clothed them. She followed Jesus’ example,” Lowther’s sister Belvia Probst said.

Walter Glass, a man in his 40s battling mental illness and drug abuse, had always received help from the Lowthers when he most needed it.

Lowther and her husband met Glass when he was living in a tent at Stoney Crest Campground off May River Road. The Pritchardville family bought him food, gave him odd jobs and even helped him move into a camper.

On July 31, 2013, Glass approached Lowther at her home at 2 Barefoot Alley. He attacked the 60-year-old woman with a nail remover, striking her over the head seven times and stabbing her twice with a knife, puncturing her lung and liver.

Glass proceeded to burglarize the couple’s business, taking jewelry and cash before fleeing out the back of the residence.

Glass pleaded guilty months later to the murder and violent second-degree burglary and armed robbery. He is serving a life sentence without parole.

Fourteenth Judicial Court Solicitor Duffie Stone described the murder as “one of the most vicious attacks” he has seen in his 30-plus-year career.

“At no time did she fight back. ... There was nothing to indicate that she even had a chance to get away,” Stone said.

Cynthia L. Maxey of the Beaufort County legislative delegation led a charge this past year to have Lowther’s legacy cemented along the county’s roadways.

Maxey succeeded with the help of state Reps. Bill Herbkersman and Weston Newton and others, as the request to change the bridge’s name passed unanimously at the Statehouse, which Herbkersman said Thursday “almost never happens.”

“She’s probably looking down at us right now, sending some of that good will,” he said. “It’s my hope that the residents of Beaufort and Jasper County and the visitors that cross over these still waters get part of that lesson too and just be a little kinder to their neighbors.”

Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka thanked Maxey for her efforts.

“When we drive over here now, we can see it as an example of what we need to do to help each other,” Sulka said. “Kindness is the word of the day. Be kind to people. You don’t know what’s going on in our heads and what causes people to do what they do. But kindness can stop all of it.

“It puts her name forever in our thoughts and it gives us a story to tell from something that wasn’t really great.”